The Hockey PDOcast

Murat Ates joins the show to discuss the Winnipeg Jets, the ups and downs of their early season play, and the seemingly abrupt change in trajectory for what was quite recently considered to be a very promising franchise. 4:00 Red flags heading into season 8:00 Talent that went out the door this summer 13:00 Connor Hellebuyck's return to form 16:00 The paper thin defensive depth chart 21:00 Systemi...

Andrew Berkshire joins the show to help rank the best wingers in the league. 1:50 The difficulty of evaluating wingers 4:15 Brendan Gallagher 6:00 Mikko Rantanen 10:00 Blake Wheeler 13:20 Jonathan Huberdeau 16:00 Matthew Tkachuk 20:00 Mitch Marner 23:30 Filipovic Forsberg 27:10 David Pastrnak 33:45 Vlad Tarasenko 41:15 Johnny Gaudreau 46:45 Claude Giroux 52:00 Alex Ovechkin 59:00 Taylor Hall 1:02:...

Andrew Berkshire joins the show to help rank the best defensemen in the league. 5:45 Honourable Mentions 9:30 Rasmus Dahlin 12:30 Jaccob Slavin 15:25 Alex Pietrangelo vs. Colton Parayko 19:45 Thomas Chabot 23:00 Oliver Ekman-Larsson 26:30 John Carlson 31:30 Morgan Rielly 35:00 Drew Doughty 42:00 PK Subban 47:30 Roman Josi 54:00 Seth Jones 57:15 John Klingberg and Victor Hedman 1:03:45 Brent Burns...

Ailish Forfar joins the show to discuss takeaways from the first couple days of the new season, and help try to figure out what's real versus what's not. 2:00 Early season trends 9:30 Dougie Hamilton's usage 12:20 Jesperi Kotkaniemi's evolution 20:00 Pittsburgh's dreadful opening act 25:00 The Golden Knights living up to the hype 30:00 The recognition of Mark Stone's greatness 36:00 The highs and...

Dom Luszczyszyn joins the show to discuss playoff picks, most actionable team point total overs and unders, plus the best prop bets for future awards. 2:00 How last year's weird postseason will embolden teams 13:30 Did the Lightning and Leafs get even better this summer? 21:30 The rest of the Atlantic Division 28:30 The messy Metro Division 38:00 Can the Pacific send a 4th team to the playoffs? 43...

Justin Cuthbert joins the show to help rank all 31 teams based on their watchability for the coming season. 2:00 What we're looking for and prioritizing as viewers 9:30 The Coyotes 11:50 The Kings 14:30 The Wild 16:50 The Senators 20:00 The Red Wings 22:45 The Blue Jackets 26:00 The Ducks 29:50 The Sabres 33:00 The Islanders 35:45 The Flyers 38:10 The Canucks 40:15 The Oilers 43:30 The Stars and P...

Andrew Berkshire joins the show to help rank the cream of the crop at Center as part of our annual preseason position group previews. 2:30 Methodology behind the rankings 5:00 Honourable mentions who just missed the cut 15:30 Elias Pettersson's special rookie season 18:15 Sean Couturier finally getting love he deserves 22:30 1-2 punch of Steven Stamkos and Brayden Point 33:00 Jack Eichel's year by...

Kevin Woodley joins the show to talk goaltending, how the way we view it is changing, the future of the position, and the Top 10 netminders heading into the season. 3:00 Consistency at the goalie position 6:30 Separating the goalie from their defensive system 13:00 Robin Lehner going from Islanders to Blackhawks 19:00 Teams going to 50-50 splits in net 27:00 Goalies going the way of running backs...

Cam Robinson joins the show to help get you ready for your fantasy drafts by discussing the players we like more than consensus, the red flag players to stay away from, and the players who find themselves in new situations this season. 6:00 The Roope Hintz buzz 12:20 Andrei Svechnikov in Year 2 17:15 Buying low on Nino Niederreiter 22:00 Larkin, Hronek and good players on bad teams 26:40 Victor Ol...

Greg Wyshynski joins the show to help kick off our preseason preview content by outlining the biggest questions that need to be answered, and the most interesting storylines to watch for around the league. 2:00 Avoiding another lockout for now 9:15 Did the Devils do enough to satisfy Taylor Hall? 18:15 How do the Lightning approach the regular season? 27:00 Can another Atlantic team break into the...

Thomas Drance joins the show to discuss his return back to the public sphere after his time with the Panthers, how that experience has changed his perspective on things, and the looming struggle between players and teams for power. 6:00 How a peak behind the curtain changes things 18:00 The acceptance of analytics in league circles 29:00 The NHL’s hiring process and prerequisites for executives 44...

John Wroblewski joins the show to discuss working with USA Hockey’s historically prolific National Team Development Program draft class, the tricky balance of trying to get immediate results from young players while preparing them for the next level, and the practical application of some half-baked theoretical ideas. 4:00 Developing future NHLers and working with USNTDP 13:10 Establishing a workin...

Rachel Doerrie joins the show to discuss a hodgepodge of offseason moves including: 1:30 Sabres completely rebuilding their blueline 19:15 Blackhawks making series of ‘win now’ moves 29:30 The Canucks have improved, but at what cost? 52:00 The Oilers facing another potential wasted season 1:01:00 The Hurricanes building off of last year 1:07:15 How and why Vegas should make room for Gusev See acas...

Andrew Thomas joins the show to discuss the next frontier for analytics in hockey, player tracking, the relay of information within organizations, market inefficiencies that remain, and some of the lingering questions we hope to answer in the future. 5:50 Current state of hockey analysis 12:40 Existing market inefficiencies 21:40 Borrowing from other sports 29:45 NHL’s venture into player tracking...

Harman Dayal joins the show to help pick the winners and losers of free agency, unpack the most notable deals we saw signed on July 1st, and set the story straight on the latest offer sheet drama. 2:00 The Panthers spending, swinging, and missing 12:30 The Islanders lack of a Plan B 18:40 The Leafs wiggling out of cap trouble 31:00 Ottawa’s underwhelming cap weaponization 34:30 The Rangers continu...

Andrew Berkshire joins the show to help preview the free agent season by looking at the players available, the teams that figure to be active, and the best possible fits between the two. 2:00 The market for Joe Pavelski 10:00 How the Avalanche will spend their cash 15:30 The Hurricanes recent activity 31:00 The Tyler Myers sweepstakes 42:00 The most fun Artemi Panarin landing spot 48:00 The goalie...

Arpon Basu joins the show to talk about PK Subban being traded again, the Montreal Canadiens, and the upcoming free agent class. 1:30 The PK Subban trade 8:10 The Player Empowerment Era 14:40 The pros and cons of long-term contracts 24:30 Last year’s surprisingly productive Canadiens 30:30 Shea Weber’s aging curve 38:20 The modern day powerplay 45:30 Montreal’s shopping list this summer 55:00 Marc...

Chris Peters joins the show to discuss the winners and losers of the 2019 draft weekend, the few impactful trades we saw, and the overarching themes to take from the extravaganza. 1:20 Teams with extra assets to play with 3:30 Forwards falling, defensemen rising 10:40 The Coyotes draft board 13:00 A goalie being taken in the lottery 15:40 Best player available vs. organizational needs 18:40 The Av...

Jonathan Willis joins the show to discuss the teams that figure to make the most noise during what promises to be a busy draft weekend filled with lots of player movement. We discuss the teams that have already been making moves, the teams that have moves left to make, and the different stages of an organization’s cyclical ascent from rebuild to contending. 4:00 How the Jets backed themselves into...

Cam Robinson and Uffe Bodin join the show to help mock draft the lottery picks of Friday evening’s first round. We discuss who each team picking high should be targeting, who each team most likely will wind up taking, and all of the possible scenarios that could play out depending on how the various dominos may fall. 3:00 Jack Hughes’ NHL readiness in Year 1 10:30 Adding Kaapo Kakko to the Rangers...

Alex Prewitt joins the show to put a bow on the Stanley Cup Final, discuss how the Blues finally won it all and how they celebrated after behind the scenes. Plus we get into offseason scuttlebutt, the Flyers and Capitals making a trade, the Islanders immediately splashing some cash, and a hockey documentary everyone needs to see. 5:00 How Game 7 was won 24:00 Offseason rumours and buzz 38:00 The B...

Justin Bourne joins the show to discuss the Stanley Cup Final, how we got to this winner take all Game 7, and what to watch for in the final game of the season. 2:30 The Blues forecheck, cycle, and O-Zone pressure 10:50 Uncharacteristic struggles of Bruins top line 14:00 Colton Parayko’s rise to superstardom 22:30 Alex Pietrangelo thriving under different usage 27:00 Ryan O’Reilly’s defensive wiza...

Adam Gretz joins the show to discuss the first two games of the Stanley Cup Final, how the Bruins threw the first punch and how the Blues fought right back, and what to look for moving forward in the series. Plus a deep dive on one of the most uniquely bizarre nixed trades in recent memory. 1:40 How the Blues broke through in Game 2 17:30 Vlad Tarasenko’s dominance 25:50 What to watch for in Games...

Ryan Biech joins the show to get into all of this year's draft day debates. We discuss the prospects with the biggest potential impact, the teams that face the toughest decisions, and the most interesting questions that need to be answered. 3:00 Jack Hughes vs. Kaapo Kakko 21:00 Blackhawks, Byram, and draft starting at number 3 31:00 The next tier of top forwards 42:30 The risk vs. reward of Vasil...

Andrew Berkshire joins the show to help continue the burgeoning annual tradition of teeing up the upcoming Stanley Cup Final by looking at the matchup from every single angle. This deep dive includes: 2:00 A matchup befitting of the stage 6:45 Adjustments, percentages, and shot quality 22:00 Functional physicality, misconceptions about the two teams 32:40 Recurring broadcast themes for the series...